


Prophecies and Spiky Cats

by TheDragonWithAPenOfFire



Category: Gentleman Bastard Sequence - Scott Lynch
Genre: Gen, Motherhood, Pirates, Post-Lies of Locke Lamora, The Republic of Thieves, post- republic of thieves, scott lynch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:13:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26176264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonWithAPenOfFire/pseuds/TheDragonWithAPenOfFire
Summary: Sabetha is woken up unexpectedly in the early morning after the election by Patience, a fearsome Bondsmagi, who gives her a choice to make. This leads Sabetha on an adventure facing challenges she never thought she would come across, and developing new friendships in unexpected places.
Relationships: Sabetha Belacoros/Locke Lamora
Kudos: 1





	1. A rude awakening

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serotoninwife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serotoninwife/gifts), [theladyofcamelias](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladyofcamelias/gifts).



Sabetha woke up to the feeling of someone watching her. She turned to her side, where Locke was sleeping soundly, a large satisfied grin across his face. His arm was outstretched towards her and he let out the occasional soft snore that took her right back to being a teenager again. 

She couldn't believe it had been five years since they'd been together in such a way, and when they had finished she couldn't believe she had put it off so long. It was the best sex she had had in a while. He might not have been well practised, but she had found no one since him that could make her feel the way he did. He thought more about satisfying her, rather than just himself. Which was a lot different than many of the men she had slept with. He always checked in to make sure she was ok and enjoying it, never hesitating to show her just how much he loved her, especially when she reached climax again and again and again.

She was reaching down to give him a soft peck on his check, when a sudden cold chill snaked down her spine. Sabetha quickly looked behind her where a glowering hooded presence stood. Suddenly aware of her nakedness, Sabetha pulled the blanket up over her chest and turned her back to Locke.

"What are you doing here?" Sabetha said, fear lacing every word.

"I guess you could say I have a gift for you, of a sort." Patience stepped out of the shadows, waving a hand and illuminating herself in the silver light of alchemical globes. Sabetha didn't move an inch, frozen by fear or magic she didn't know. "I suggest you dress yourself before we start speaking to make yourself more comfortable." Patience said, pulling the hood from her head. With the silver light in the room, she looked like a ghost. 

Sabetha's body seemed to move on its own. Keeping her chest covered, she reached down to the floor by the bed, where she had tossed her clothes in a lust filled passion, and clumsily pulled them onto herself. She remained seated on the bed, not quite willing to leave Locke's side lest Patience do something to him.

She was highly aware she could still feel the sensation of Locke, of his tongue, of his fingers, of his everything, on her, but tried to pull her thoughts away in case they could impair her in a mental battle with this woman. 

Patience waited, her dark eyes glaring down at Sabetha as if she could read her every thought.

"I thought you might want to see this," Patience gestured to the wall behind her where a large rectangle, about three foot tall was placed, a grey cloth hiding what was underneath. When Sabetha made no motion to move, Patience continued, "I suggest you look it at before I tell you what else I have to say."

Sabetha reluctantly pulled back the covers and made her way towards the wall, keeping her distance from Patience as much as she could, kneeled in front of the object and pulled off the large sheet.

"It's a painting of my dear friend Lamor Acanthus and his wife." A pointed look towards Locke, "I think looking at it will show you the real reason he actually cares for you." Sabetha's eyes flicked over the couple. The man was tall and dark. No similarity to Locke at all, but what caught her eye was the redness of the woman's hair, burning like fire so bright she was almost sure she could touch it; mirror to her own.

No.

It couldn't be true.

Doubt rushed through her, choking the air momentarily from her lungs and she clutched at her heart. Locke had always told her his love for her was more than just a fetish. He wouldn’t have lied to her would he? No. She trusted Locke, and she knew in her heart that wasn’t the case. He was more than those Jeremite Redeemers. She was more than just a fetish to him, and he was more than just a lover to her. They were so much more to each other. So much more that sometimes it scared her to feel for someone so greatly.

Sabetha turned back to Patience who was grinning down at her smugly and rose from the floor, "Why would you show me this?" 

"In case you were having any doubts," Sabetha flinched, "I wanted to tell you, they are all true. And you should leave his side, before you live to regret it."

Sabetha remained silent, and instead looked at Patience with challenge in her eyes.

"Now, I have one last piece of information to share with you. I have the gift of prophecy, and hazy as they might be, there is one about Locke." Patience once again flicked her gaze to Locke's sleeping body, "There are three things he must take up, and three things he must loose. A key, a crown, a child." Patience returned her gaze to burrow into Sabetha who had still not moved from where she stood by the painting, half illuminated by the glow of an alchemical globe. "The last, as you can probably guess, concerns you."

Sabetha wanted to rebuke, but she thought it best to hear her out, lest the women took unkindly to being interrupted. From what little Sabetha knew about Patience, she guessed it would probably be true.

Patience continued, "No matter what decisions you make today, you will leave this house carrying Locke's child." Patience looked down at Sabetha's belly as she spoke and Sabetha covered it with a hand instinctively.

"Don't be ridiculous, I take a contraceptive tea every morning." Sabetha looked toward where she had put the tin on the desk behind Patience, along with a few other of her belongings, "And I have no plan on stopping, no matter what you say. At least not now. Not yet."

Patience followed Sabetha's traitorous eyes and looked behind her where the tin was sat out of Sabetha's reach and picked it up. "Oh, you mean the tea you have yet to take after your rather _eventful_ night in the sheets?" Sabetha's cheeks reddened. It had been a long time since she felt embarrassed like that about someone knowing they had had sex. Patience's look took her back to a time when she was an embarrassed teen girl when Father Chains had found out just how far hers and Locke's relationship had progressed. He hadn't scolded them. Just looked so shocked she was sure he was going to drop dead when he happened to walk in on them one morning when they thought he wasn't yet awake. Calo and Galdo had just walked past, both tapping him on the shoulder muttering "we were shocked too", and "who knew she would stoop so low". Chains wasn't able to look at them right for a week. 

Before Sabetha could blink, the contents of the tin was burning in Patience's hand.

Sabetha's breath hitched and her throat closed up. The strong flowery sent of the herbs filled the room and Sabetha coughed before stumbling over to a window and opening it wider. "Why would you do that?" She hissed, losing her polite restraint from before, still coughing from the scent of herbs in her lungs.

Patience smirked, "Some prophecies require a little interference."

"Why do you even care? Why are you so insistent that I must bare this child? It has nothing to do with you?"

"Revenge. My sweet child. Locke took my child from me. Gave him a fate worse than death so I seek to do the same to him." Sabetha continued to glare, breathing heavily by the window. She hoped that at any second she would wake up with a start in Locke's arms, but as the minutes ticked on, Sabetha lost hope. Stupid Locke. "Now, don’t think me completely unmerciful," Patience continued, "Because _you_ did not harm my son, I do not wish to put unnecessary motherly suffering on you. To lose a child is the greatest grief a woman could experience, and I do not wish to harm you unless I have to. Therefore I give you a choice. Lose in such a loose word, and I am not so uncaring that it has to mean death. The child does not have to die. I just require it to be lost to Locke to be satisfied.

"If you leave Karthain right now, and do not seek Locke out, the child will survive, but if you choose to stay and stick by Locke's side, despite what I have told you that his love is merely residual from his past life, at some point the child will die. And you will have to bare that grief with him. This goes for seeking him out afterwards too. The choice is yours to make." 

The fire stopped burning in the tin, and Patience made a point of tipping the remnant ash out of the window. Sabetha watched it flow off in the breeze, like the image of the new future she had seen for herself. She did not have the words to comprehend what Patience had just said. It was like she had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over her and then left her out in the snow.

The choices were clear, did she stay with Locke and Jean and try and forge a life together, risk the future Patience claimed would come to pass and live in fear the moment a potential child is born, or did she leave? Sabetha didn't even know if this child was real and yet she felt selfish for even thinking of putting them at risk by staying.

A part of Sabetha had always wanted a child. But as the years went by, her focus on her work got in the way. She had met no one who she would want to share a child with, except one.

Before Father Chains had died, Sabetha had imagined her and Locke getting married and settling down. The need for schemes would be less frequent and they could experience something together that they themselves never had. Jean, Calo and Galdo would be great uncles, teaching them all about how to charm purses and where to stick a sword. They would grow their gang together. Raise more than just their children, but other little orphan girls like she had been and give them a better life than they would cradled in the bosom of Camorr.

And they would pull off the greatest scheme they had ever been in. Convincing the world that they were simple thieves with no attachments, while living a life no criminal could. With a family.

Nazca would be Capa, and she'd eventually find out, being far more intelligent than her father and brothers combined, but her and her wife would let it slide as long as she got plenty of babysitting duties.

And then Father Chains had died, and Locke had been so stuck in his ways. Had made himself Garrista without having a conversation with her and refused to move on. To move out of that horrible burrow tainted by death and to finally breath some air.

So she had left. That vision of the future with it. But recently it had crept back in some long forgotten recess of her heart. And having it ripped away again hurt more than the first time.

But if she could have a little piece of it, maybe that would be ok? Maybe she would have a daughter and raise her to be a strong and powerful woman in this world while protecting her from those who would mean to hurt her. Like Father Chains did for her. What her own parents couldn’t do.

If she followed Patience's advice and left, and she wasn't pregnant, she would surely know in a few weeks when her monthly bleed was due, and then she could go back and find them, they wouldn’t have gone far. But if she was, then well, she had a lot of things to do. But there was one thing that wasn't adding up.

"If I leave now, how will Locke ever know what he has lost without me here to tell him? Surely that is not enough revenge for you?"

Patience smiled, "As fate has it Locke will eventually find out. I'll make sure of that. And it will destroy him. He did not have his own parents, and it will kill him to think that he wasn't there for his either."

"And what if I decide to stay and simply be done with the child now, before it even has a chance to be born?"

Patience's chuckle skidded across Sabetha's bones making her shiver. "You will find no physiker or dog leech willing to help you. No apothecary will house what you need either, and if you think about going into the city and buying more tea, you will find that they have gone up in flames too."

Sabetha stood in silence for several moments. She looked over to where Locke still slept, blissfully unaware of the calamity that had just befallen them. Last night she had promised him she was going to stay. That they were going to try again. But he will awaken thinking she's betrayed him.

"Can I write him a letter before I go? Just so he doesn't hate me too much?"

"Go ahead." Patience smiled, and Sabetha was reminded of a shark after they had smelt the first drop of blood from their prey.

Sabetha scrambled to the desk and pulled open one of the heavy oak drawers. Inside was a simple writing set, with gold leaf mounting. Pen in hand, Sabetha dipped it in the ink pot and brought it to the paper. After she had written a simple ' _Dear Locke_ ', ink and tears began to mix on the page turning the writing into an unreadable mess. Sabetha discarded the paper and tried again. This time she couldn't even get the pen to the page before tears overwhelmed her. This was useless. She threw the pen down with a tap and ink scattered everywhere.

Patience didn't say a word but Sabetha could feel her smiling behind her. "Locke will be fine," Sabetha said pushing up from the desk and began packing what little belongings she had. When she was done she stood in silence in the room. Patience hadn't moved, stood like a shadow in the corner by the window. Without looking in her direction Sabetha walked over to Locke and sat on the bed. He was still dozing with that stupid grin on his face and she smiled.

"Can you leave us a minute? There are things I want to tell him in private before I leave."

Patience nodded, "of course, but you will not be able to wake him."

"I know." And then Patience was gone.

Sabetha reached to his face and tucked a strand of Locke's hair behind his ear before kissing him again on the cheek. Tears welled in her eyes again and dripped onto Locke's face. Sabetha wiped them away.

Sabetha then stepped away towards the desk and removed another sheet of paper and began writing. It wasn't so much that she was too emotional to write, just the thought of Patience watching her spill out her emotions and no doubt judge her fragile heart overwhelmed her and filled her with rage.

_Dear Locke,_

_You are my brother bastard, my friend and my lover. You torment me far more than the Sanza's ever could and you are my equal in brain and wits and frustration. I'm sure if you ask Jean how many times he has wanted to knock our heads together for good measure, the sum would be no number we could possibly comprehend, and I want you to know I love you both so, so much._

_When you wake up, you are no doubt going to be angry at me. And I understand that. But the decision that I made in leaving was not made lightly. I did want that future we talked about and one day I hope we can have it._

_Locke, I wish I could have stayed. I wish we could have left Karthain after we woke up in each other's arms and forged a future together. All of us._

_But I am sorry that that just can't happen. There is something deep in my stomach telling me I must go._

_Patience spoke to me in a way only she knows how and she made it very difficult for me to stay. But I want you to know it was my decision to leave. She did not force nor threaten. I went of my own free will for what I think will be best for our future._

_Locke, I love you, and I wish you so much happiness. You are so much more to me than a simple lover and I have never met a man like you. You challenge me in a way no other man ever has and no doubt ever will._

_I hope our paths cross again one day again and maybe then we will have more people in our lives to greet each other with. New friends, new family, new bonds._

_But until then, I wish you well my friends. I love you with all of my heart._

_Goodbye,_

_Sabetha._

When Sabetha was finished, she pocketed the pen and blew on the ink until it was dry. Folding the paper into a neat square, she placed it in one of the inside pockets of Locke's coats and sat back down on the bed.

She picked up his hand in hers and gave it a quick kiss. She bent down and whispered in his ear, "I love you Locke. I always have, I always will." Tears again pricked her eyes, "Our little family might be expanding and I'm so scared but it's going to be ok. Don't hate me too much. Be brave, I will see you soon once again." Sabetha kissed him again, high on his cheekbones and rested her forehead on the side of his, shaking with each shallow breath.

"It's time to go." A dreaded voice sounded from behind her causing shivers to race down her spine. Sabetha sat up quickly and wiped at her face, burning with tears. Sabetha looked behind her and nodded solemnly.

Sabetha picked up the rest of her belongings, bid Locke a last fair well with a kiss to his cheek, and left the room.

The steps creaked under her feet as she descended. She knew she could wake neither Locke nor Jean from their magical sleeps yet cringed anyway with every sound. At the bottom of the stair she noticed Jean slumbering unnaturally on the low couch where they had left him, hatchet in hand. It was clear there had been some kind of confrontation before Patience had taken the stairs to wake her, unless Jean had taken to sleeping with his hatchets. With everything they had both been through, she would not blink if that was the case.

Sabetha walked up to Jean and ungracefully moved him to a more comfortable position, slightly straining at the weight of Jean's unconscious form. She left the hatchet in this hand and kissed him on his forehead.

"Goodbye old friend, I'm sorry I've left you to deal with Locke all alone again but please look after him for me."

With that, she got the rest of her funds from underneath a loose floorboard where she had hidden them and walked to the door. With one last look at her friend, she stepped out onto the street.


	2. A regal new friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabetha has left her lover and friend at the wishes of Patience, a terrifying Bondsmagi. What is she going to do next?

The sun could just be seen bathing the streets in a comforting glow as Sabetha, wrapped in a thick woollen cloak, shuffled through the burning city. She passed an apothecary shop on her left. It’s windows black with smoke; the view inside haunting and dark. Another victim to fires from the night before. So there really was to be no other option.

Sabetha made her way to the bay, dodging glassed eyed people stumbling throughout the streets. The cold sea air greeted her, biting at her skin as she scanned the docks for a ship she knew should be there.

After a few minutes of searching, she found it.

The Volantyne's Resolve.

The same ship she had packed Locke and Jean onto after they had arrived in Karthain. To think that if it wasn’t for their smarts and tenacity, she and Locke would still be distant, lost friends. Long ago lovers.

That would have been better. It would have been better that he had hated her for playing a dirty trick than her let them fall back in love again, only to leave him when she promised she wouldn’t. He will be more than angry at her. Locke could never hate her, but he’ll be so disappointed. She had yet again broken his heart.

And what did she do it for? For a lie probably. She willingly went along with everything Patience wanted, like a puppet. That wasn’t who she was, who she wanted to be.

Patience didn’t make her leave, she willingly left causing all that pain to Locke herself. She was so, so stupid.

Maybe she had just wanted an excuse to run. Maybe she had summoned Patience with her doubts and invented a few stories in the hopes one of them would make her go running.

A pawn. That is what she had become. This was not the strong woman she had dreamed to become as a child. Someone who would fight for what they believe in and not let anyone walk all over them. Every bit of pain she was about to suffer was justifiable.

As she walked up to the ship, Patience's words rang true in her ears like a death bell. 'No matter what decisions you make today, you will leave this house carrying Locke's child.' Patience could have been lying of course. Just because they had had sex and she couldn't drink her contraceptive tea didn't mean she would become pregnant. It could have been all a deception to cause Locke more suffering. Maybe it wasn't the loss of a child Patience wanted to cause him, but the very thing he desired most in this world just when he has had it back. Her. And she had let her do it.

It wasn't too late. She could turn back. But Sabetha, clinging onto that piece of the future that could be all hers. Just hers. Walked on to the deck and didn’t look back. As she boarded, a few sailors started to tell her she shouldn't be aboard when Solus Volantyne stepped out of a cabin and turned pale at the sight of her.

"Oh, dear Mistress Gallante. I'm so sorry, your charges. They jumped overboard and must be shark bait by now. My apologies for the failure. Your esteemed forgiveness I must beg of you."

"Never mind that. That is in the past. I am not here about those two, I require safe passage out of Karthain. And in return, I will pardon you from your _slip-up_ and not ask for my money back, and some."

"Of course, of course. Any request on where you would like to go?"

"No. Anywhere. Just out of here, and not the marrows, either. Show me to my cabin. We must leave as soon as possible."

"Yes, Mistress. This way, and I'll have Aldaric cook you something as soon as possible."

"Excellent." Volantyne showed Sabetha to her room. It was ornately decorated with cushions and silks and lanterns. It even still had the bars on the windows. Sabetha smiled at the thought of being in the same room as she has shipped of Locke and Jean. The copy of Lucarno's Republic of Thieves was still on the shelf among the many other books. "Thank you Volantyne, you may leave me now."

Volantyne politely nodded and closed the door behind himself. Many times it annoyed her how men would grovel at her feet like she was some land walking Goddess, but most of the time it had its advantages. It wasn't her fault they would throw themselves to the sharks to please her. And it became useful when she wanted to squeeze them from every copper they owned. That, she didn't want to do to Volantyne, but a free trip out of Karthain was nothing to scoff at.

Sabetha had just sat down on one of the low beds with a book when a Vadran man with greyish-blonde hair stumbled into the cabin carrying a silver tray set. "I have your-ah damn." He cursed as something small and fast ran between his feet almost tripping him up. "Come back here you little ankle biter." The ankle-biter in question ran out of the reach of the cook and onto the bed with Sabetha. Peering around her, teasingly.

"Oh, who are you, you gorgeous little thing," Sabetha said, picking the cat up into her arms. It couldn't have been more than a year old and was pure black, with a splodge of white on its neck. "You're very regal looking aren't you."

"That's our latest stowaway Mistress, he jumped ship about a week ago and seems to think he owns the place. The other cats don't quite know what to do with him.”

"Oh, a troublemaker, are you?" Sabetha said, giving the cat a playful tap on the nose, "Then I will call you Locke, that'll suit you."

Aldaric set the tray down on one of the low tables, "I'm so sorry about him Mistress, I'll remove him right away."

"Nonsense, he can stay and keep me company. I've had my fair share of troublemakers in my life, this one is no different." At that, the cat started to purr affectionately and rub his head on her hands.

"As you wish it, Mistress," Aldaric said with a slight bow, "Here are the foods you requested. I will now take my leave." Sabetha thanked him and he disappeared with a click of the door.

Sabetha gently pushed the cat, Locke, off her lap and received a disgruntled mew in response. "Oh shush, you have to let me eat something," And replaced him with the tray of food. Sabetha lifted one of the lids and a steaming bowl of what looked like vegetable soup was underneath. Under the others, she found a few slices of thick crusty bread, some cold meats and cheese. It all smelled divine.

Locke meowed in response and tried to push himself up on to the tray, only to be gently batted down. "Now, if you behave, I'll let you have some, ok?" The cat looked vaguely annoyed by the notion, but sat down next to her, eye level with the food and did not move an inch.

Halfway through her meal, Locke still not having moved from his perch, she broke off some meats and cheese and offered them to the cat, who greedily accepted with sharp teeth. Locke then began growling possessively.

"If you continue, I'm going to start growling too. I gave you that food, I'm not going to take it back." He eyed her and continued to munch on the food in silence.

Sabetha finished her meal and offered the last few scraps to Locke, who greedily licked at the bowl until it looked unused and clean. "You were sure hungrier than you looked, rat population a bit low, huh?"

Locke licked his lips and moved to the end of the bed, circled a few times before curling up in a ball and started to wash himself. Sabetha giggled and laid down next to him, book in hand until they were curled up together.

As Sabetha began to read, Locke started biting and licking her fingers, and when he noticed her staring, rubbed up next to her playfully and curled under her chin, giving her jaw a few playful nips and licks. "Oh, a flirt are you? You are almost as bad as your namesake." Locke just purred, while Sabetha stroked him and read herself to sleep.


	3. Ship Wrecked

Two weeks had passed since Sabetha had decided to leave Karthain, to leave Locke and Jean, at the strong encouragement of Patience. The ship's crew had taken to calling her the demon tamer, due to the fact she would scarcely be seen on deck without Locke, the little cat she had adopted, around her neck.

He refused to go near anyone else and would hiss and scratch at them if they so much as looked at him the wrong way, a fact Sabetha felt very amused by. The cat kept any would-be handsy sailors well out of her path, and for that, she was very very thankful.

They were just south-east of the Sea of Brass when a storm picked up around the ship, whipping the deck into chaos. These past weeks had been a leisurely cruise, idyllic weather every day, that with the quickness that this storm came in, it could only be God's given.

The ship was quickly turned into chaos and Sabetha didn't know what to do. For the first time in her life, she was in a situation she didn't have any skills in. She didn't know how to hoist the mainsails or man the wheel.

Her hair was whipping in her face, drenched by the cold rain and seawater, as she noticed the lifeboats clattering cautiously in the wind. Thunder rumbled all around her and mixed with the shouts and screams of the crew.

Locke was wrapped frightened around her neck, hiding in her hair. His claws digging into the sensitive skin there, Sabetha tried not to grimace. One of the sailors rushed past her, knocking her to her knees on the wet deck as a bolt of lightning split the sky and hit one of the ropes of the lifeboats, breaking it effortlessly. The lifeboat began to sway with the force, and dangling by one rope, started swinging dangerously close to the crew's oblivious heads.

Sabetha scrambled to her feet, Locke still firmly fixed on her neck and raced for the snapped rope. She leaned over the railing grasping for it as the ship swayed and creaked beneath her feet. After a few perilous tries, Sabetha succeeded, pulling the rope down just in time for the lifeboat to swing up and narrowly miss decapitating Solus Volantyne. He clutched his chest in shock as in his worried state trying to keep the crew in order, he hadn't seen it swinging for him.

"I owe you my life Verena," he remarked as Sabetha struggled with the rope.

"Don't thank me yet."

Volantyne then continued to shout orders at his terrified crew, and Sabetha was left to wrestle the rope herself. The rope creaked and strained, burning her hands as it tried to pull out of her grasp. Sabetha bit her lip with the strain, and Locke yowled in fear.

Another big wave crashed onto the ship, drenching Sabetha and Locke to the bone. The cat let out another yowl. In the shock, the rope began to pull again, finally slipping out of Sabetha's grasp. "NO!" she shouted, reaching over the railing again. Another wave crashed on the deck and washed Sabetha over with it.

She hit the water with a painful splash. The ice-cold water biting her as she struggled to stay afloat. Locke was miraculously still attached to her, stiff and shivering, tension down his long body. Sabetha tried to shout up, but the commotion was too load, the storm too violent. Nobody could hear her. So she continued to kick uselessly at the water. A few metres away something else fell into the water, causing another splash to coat the pair. The lifeboat Sabetha had been wrestling with.

Sabetha tried not to think too much as she felt something rub up against her leg and paddled for the empty boat. Reaching the side, she grasped ungracefully for the rim. The hardwood pinched her palms as she struggled to pull her weight up into the boat. After a few useless pulls, she finally did it, and woman and cat splattered into the hull.

Locke was shaking and was no doubt as scared and wet as she was. He was wide-eyed and his fur was sticking in all directions. Both hacked up seawater immediately, the feeling of it burning Sabetha's throat, and then collapsed in a heap.

When she had caught her breath, Sabetha again tried to shout and signal the crew on the ship. She cautiously stood up on shaky feet and waved her arms about, pleading for anyone to notice her, but no one did. And they were drifting further and further away. Locke yowled an even uglier sound and hide beneath one of the benches as they watched another bolt of lightning hit the Volantyne's Resolve, setting fire to one of the mainsails.

"Shit. Shit!" Sabetha cursed, shouting again with all the air in her lungs. She continued shouting until her voice was coarse, and the Volantyne's Resolve was too far out into the horizon. She collapsed back into the hull and coughed again. This time blood spattered onto her and wiping her mouth decided it was in her best interest to ignore that.

Locke looked at her nervously from his hiding place and she just sighed, before everything went dark.

Sabetha woke up to burning hot sunshine, and with Locke nervously licking and nipping at her face. She brushed him off and he let out an excited and relieved meow in response. Her neck and shoulders killed from where Locke had been digging his claws in for so long, and her whole body ached. She could barely move.

The calm ocean was a mockery to what it had been the night before, and no ship could be seen as far as Sabetha could see off into the horizon. They were well and truly lost at sea.

It served her right. She should have stayed with Locke and Jean, discarded Patience's words. At least then she might have been able to die with her family. She had run to protect a future she will no doubt not get. She would have been a useless mother anyway. She's too stubborn and aggressive to ever hope to be the calm and caring mother she hoped to be.

Patience had tricked her. And she fell headfirst for it. Locke yowled and started to bite at her hand. He was no doubt still frightened and hungry. She was too. But this was how they were to die. Miles from home, from the man she loved. In an empty boat with a grumpy cat. If she was to die first, the cat would no doubt eat her. By the time anyone came across her corpse, it will be half-rotted and mauled. Completely unrecognisable.

Locke will no doubt think she had abandoned him forever, found a wealthy man and lived a wild life. He'll no doubt die alone and cold and bitter. Cursing her name in his last dying breath.

Jean would hate her. That she knew. Hate her for the pain she will have caused his particular friend who he is devoted too so tenderly. A devotion that caused ice to form in her heart.

That second night was one of the worst. One she spent the whole time awake. Locke had propped himself up on the edge of the boat and tried to drink the seawater, but she battered him down telling him how dangerous it was.

In the early glow of the morning, Sabetha spent a few hours trying to grab a curious fish to eat. Eventually, she succeeded, but it was barely longer than her finger. She fed it to Locke. He needed it more than her.

As the third night crawled in, cold wrapped itself around the boat. Locke snuggled into her for any remaining warmth, and they laid curled up shivering.

By the fourth morning, and the blistering heat, Sabetha drank the seawater.

The fifth morning, Sabetha woke to shouting and banging. Locke was freaking out, yowling with all his little lungs could muster. Sabetha sat up groggily to be face to face with a pirate and she yelped.

"I'd be damned Captain. The redhead is alive!" Sabetha tried to shuffle back only to notice she was stuck in her little lifeboat surrounded by pirates. Sabetha threw up once again, seawater coating her shivering form. The last thing she saw was a striking woman, with black skin and braided hair, rings pierced the arch of her ear and her eyes burrowed into Sabetha's soul, and then everything went blank.

Sabetha awoke in a cabin. Not as lavish as her one of the Volantyne's resolve, but smart and cosy enough. She could feel a little hand stroking her head and for a minute she thought it might be the little cat. To her surprise when she opened her eyes, two pairs of striking young eyes stared down at her, Sabetha sat up with a start.

"Ok, give her space now you two." The children backed off immediately and sat legs crossed about a metre away patiently. "I hope you don't mind, they were worried about you and I've been trying to teach them about medicine." Sabetha shook her head. The owner of the voice was the woman she has seen before she had passed out, but Sabetha had been sure she was the Captain, why would she be nursing her? "Now drink this." Before Sabetha could argue, a cold sour liquid was forced down her throat. It was probably one of the worse things she had ever drunk, and she gagged. "Ah ah ah," the woman warned, "don't go throwing that up in my lovely cabin, I won't be able to get the smell out for weeks, and it's good for you, you need the nutrients.

"How long have I been out?" Sabetha said, the sound coming out a raspy whisper.

"A few days. You have woken up a few times like this, I've shoved this tonic down your throat, and you've fallen back asleep. Something I suggest you do again."

"What about the cat I was with, he's mostly black and he's got a little dot of white on his neck."

"The cat is safe too. Already running the mice on board wild." 

Sabetha smiled in relief and let herself slip back into sleep.

It had been a week since she had initially woken up on the ship when Sabetha had enough strength to take a walk up onto the deck. As she pushed open the door, she was momentarily blinded by the brightness of the sky and swayed unsteadily on her feet.

"Oh, steady their redhead, don't want you falling overboard when we've just fixed ya up." It was the pirate she saw when she first awoke. She stood about an inch shorter than Sabetha and had light brown skin with cropped dark hair. Her eyes were the beautiful green of seawater, and her face was slightly flushed with the sun.

"Thank you," Sabetha said, rather breathlessly gripping onto the arm she held out for her.

"The names Asha, I'm the second mate on the Poison Orchid, nice to meet you," Sabetha smiled. It was welcoming to have a friendly face and Sabetha was put at ease.

"I'm Sabetha." Before she could stop herself, her true name slipped out of her throat, she cursed herself for being so clumsy and hoped it wouldn't come back to haunt her.

"Sabetha…" Asha let the name roll on her tongue a few times, "unusual."

"Uh, thanks," Sabetha replied, still squinting in the brightness of the sun.

"Want to take a turn around the deck with me and then go and eat something?"

"I've already had my tonic today."

"I don't mean that corpse shit, I mean some proper food. We haven't long stopped off at shore, so we've got stocks of it, and it's more than just ships crackers!"

Sabetha smiled again, "That sounds great." Asha linked her arms through hers and took her for a walk around the ship. Asha muttered on about all the different parts and where not to go, as well as the latest crew gossip. Sabetha smiled a real smile for the first time in a while. It had been a very long time since she had had a friend like this.

Memories of her times with Nazca at the last mistake, sat on the roof drinking brandy filled her mind. They would both talk over each other in an excited rumble Sabetha was surprised they ever understood each other. Nazca would talk about her brothers, and her dream to be Capa one day and laugh about all of the men who would hit on her to try and win her father's favour. Nazca had only told Sabetha as far as she knew that she was only interested in women. She kept it a secret from her father and brothers and though they loved her very much, she knew it would go down like a sinking ship. If she was to be Capa, she needed to have children to pass on the legacy. Something Nazca had no interest in doing.

Nazca often told her about her dalliances with women. They were frequent, and rarely with the same person. Sabetha often thought that Nazca might have a sex life to rival that of the Sanza's. She'd even slept with both of the Berangia sisters. To think they caused her father's death filled Sabetha's stomach with disgust. To think they were flirting with Nazca while plotting her father's death. They deserved the death they got at the wrong end of Jean's hatchets.

"Are you ok? You've gone all glassy-eyed?" Asha said, breaking a roll of bread in half and offering one half to Sabetha. She took it and didn't hesitate in taking a bite. Her first real bite of food in weeks. The bread was slightly bland, but Sabetha ate it as if it was the last thing she would ever eat, and then helped herself to another full roll.

Asha didn't comment, just offered her olives and little fish, which Sabetha graciously accepted. "I'm good, just really hungry apparently," Sabetha smiled between mouthfuls. Asha nodded and then walked her back to her cabin.


End file.
